Author’s notes: This part follows directly after Part Thirty-Two, but
makes connections back to events of earlier parts. Malachy (pronounced Ma-la-kee)
is an original character of mine. The name just popped into my head and is not
connected to anything outside of the fact that I thought it sounded vaguely
Biblical. Kate Corrigan is from Mike Mignola’s original Hellboy comics,
but I’m solely to blame for how she is used here.

Chapter Five: Abe Sapien: Sibling Rivalry: Part Thirty-Three

While Hellboy and Abe had been below the surface of Saint Nicholas Park, the
morning had become brighter and brighter, even though the sun had yet to rise.
When the FBI had become aware of the success of their incursion into that
underground chamber, they decided to cordon off that block of Saint Nicholas
Avenue where the garbage truck and other Bureau vehicles were still parked in
front of the ‘fish-fry’ restaurant near 145th Street. Initially considering
moving the vehicles along Saint Nicholas closer to the location of the park,
they decided to have the group walk back to the truck.

Right after Abe had walked past the red truck so admired by Hellboy, a Bureau
agent came up to him with the same disguise he had worn when he met Walter
Carlton. Stoically Abe again buried himself under the false beard, dark glasses,
hat, and overcoat; grateful that the weather was now colder than it had been the
evening before when the disguise had seemed so suffocating.

As Hellboy, Kate, Abe, and the other BPRD agents walked along the
cordoned-off block, this was the first time Kate truly became aware that she had
been held in a chamber below the streets of Harlem. Like Trevor Broom, she had
occasion as a lecturer to visit the campus of the CUNY Graduate Center, whose
spires she now realized overlooked the location of her imprisonment. The
familiarity of the neighborhood just lent another layer of unreality to her
memories of her strange captor.

Just before they crossed from the west side of Saint Nicholas to the east
where the truck was parked, Hellboy, who still held Kate’s hand in his own,
noted that her hand was trembling. Looking down at her in concern, he could see
that her face had become very pale.

“Katie, do you feel okay?” he asked, beginning to worry even more when she
stumbled as she walked.

“No, not really,” Kate stopped walking and looked up at the now cloaked
Hellboy. She couldn’t see his face because of his hood, but could sense his
concern, “Oh, don’t sound so worried. I don’t think there’s anything really
wrong with me. I’m just tired.”

As she was speaking, the group crossed over Saint Nicholas to the location of
Hellboy’s garbage truck. Kate realized immediately that this vehicle was not the
same beat-up truck Hellboy usually used. Earlier, when Hellboy and Abe had gone
out to look for the prophesied ‘white cat’, Trevor Broom had cleaned up after
Abe’s weird illness; returning the truck to its original pristine newness.

“Blue, Katie’s not feeling so great,” Hellboy said to Abe, who had arrived
with the other agents just a little ahead of them, “Could you give her a quick
check just to make sure it’s nothing to worry about?”

It intrigued Kate that the slender fish-man, now buried under that weird
disguise, was able to give her a physical examination without ever touching her.
He merely removed a leather glove and slowly passed his right hand, webbed
fingers hyper-extended, in the air over her head and chest.

After a few moments, he shook his head, “I don’t sense anything major, Red.
She seems to be merely exhausted from her ordeal. I earlier had a chance to
examine Mindy Carlton and remarked the same fatigue in her. Right now, the best
thing Professor Corrigan can do is sleep. However, a visit within the next few
days to the Bureau Medical Wing would be a wise precaution.”

Kate nodded, “Those rats may have been supernatural creatures, but they used
a good, old-fashioned knockout drug when they grabbed us. Side effects of that
may have to do with our current malaise. What’s the most interesting thing,
though, is what happened with the nausea and headaches that plagued us when we
first woke up. Just about the time I was going to throw up violently, it all
faded as if it had never occurred. I found out later that the same thing had
happened to Mindy.”

An agent in the cab of the garbage truck lowered the rear doors so they could
enter the truck.

Hellboy, to Kate’s amusement, insisted on taking her into his arms and
carrying her up into the gleaming vehicle as if she were a bride being carried
over the threshold. No one was in the truck, as Trevor Broom, and the two agents
who had gone with him, had yet to return from transporting Mindy Carlton back to
her apartment in Greenwich Village.

Hellboy placed Kate down on the bench Trevor Broom had been sleeping on
earlier; it was still made up into a bed. Removing his cloak, he tossed it onto
his seat, which was just in front of the bench.

“God, Hellboy, where’d you manage to get this fancy set of wheels?” Kate
laughed, as she sleepily gazed around the elaborately equipped laboratory that
was housed in the truck.

“It was supposed to be a birthday present from Lee,” Hellboy replied, as he
adjusted the pillows and covered Kate with the blanket, “But he gave it to me
early so’s I could…” Hellboy trailed off as he realized that Kate had already
fallen fast asleep.

Not wanting to go any farther from her than he had to, Hellboy sat on the
floor next to the bench. Tenderly taking a hold of her right hand, he watched
her sleep. After some time had gone by, Abe climbed in. Hellboy wondered where
he had gotten to, but then realized that Abe had made himself scarce in order to
give him some privacy with Kate.

After removing his uncomfortable disguise, Abe sat on the floor next to
Hellboy. “The Professor just phoned to inform the agents here that he
successfully returned Mindy Carlton to her father, who was still waiting for her
in her apartment,” Abe informed him in a low voice. “Having been made aware of
the successful outcome of our operation, the Professor decided that rather than
returning here, he will meet us back at the Bureau in Newark.”

As Abe spoke, Kate muttered something in her sleep but did not awaken.
Raising the hand he was holding to his lips, Hellboy refrained from kissing it;
not wanting to disturb Kate. Carefully letting go, he stood up from the floor
and went to his seat. Abe followed suit and returned to his own seat. Hellboy
spoke quietly into his walkie-talkie, urging the driver of the truck to maneuver
the large vehicle as carefully as possible not to jostle Kate.

It was not until the truck and other vehicles were under way that Hellboy
arose from his seat and walked over to kneel next to where Abe was sitting.
“Blue, I’ll take back every nasty thing I ever said about ‘this damn psychic
hocus-pocus of yours’. If it weren’t for you we never would’ve…”

Abe placed a webbed hand on Hellboy’s shoulder, “We both contributed
something, Red. Isn’t that what partners are supposed to do? Yet, I am concerned
that what you referred to last night as my ‘so-called gift’ is still more
‘so-called’ than anything else. I now realize that I actually had established a
psychic link at that point in time with Professor Corrigan and Mindy Carlton;
but it was uncontrolled and poorly focused. This is probably the best
explanation for my sudden illness. I was experiencing the drug-induced headaches
and nausea they should have been suffering. It is obvious to me that I need a
lot more practice if I am truly to be useful to you as a partner.”

“Abe,” a sleepy voice cut in from the bench, “Stop calling me Professor
Corrigan. I’m usually ‘Kate’ to guys who help save me from giant rats.”

Chuckling at this interruption, Hellboy turned to look at Kate, but she had
already rolled over and fallen back to sleep again. He turned back to Abe.
“Maybe you do need more practice, Blue, but I still never would’ve found Kate if
it weren’t for you.”

“I would think that my associates and I deserve some thanks, too,” Hellboy
looked up to find Malachy seated at the table at the front of the truck that was
still strewn with maps of Saint Nicholas Park.

Hellboy walked up to him, finding his appearance even more ethereal and
indefinable than before, “Well, I suppose you do; at least you got rid of
furball’s guards for us. But, you know, I kind of expected a little more help in
that chamber.”

Malachy, now more solid, pushed back his long white hair, “What makes you
think we didn’t help? When you called on us, we came to you. We also helped
boost your psychic connection to Abe.”

Hellboy shook his head, “I never called on you. I just…” Malachy’s appearance
suddenly became so brilliant that Hellboy and Abe were almost blinded. Falling
to his knees, Hellboy threw up his left hand to shade his eyes. “Aw, shit,
you’re Saint Michael, aren’t you?”

“A mere avatar only,” replied Malachy, as the effulgence of light faded,
“Even you could not withstand his full manifestation. Just a small glimpse of
his true being would fill most people with abject fear. This is why my
associates and I seldom function on this plane of existence. But this case was
unique, as I stated before. The enemy had flouted divine decrees against direct
supernatural interference in human affairs; it had to be dealt with. Yet, the
choices made in that chamber had to be your choices, the defiance your defiance.
We came to your assistance when you chose to call on us.”

Still on his knees, Hellboy looked over at the sleeping Kate, “Glad you did;
I really needed the help.”

Malachy smiled, “We are always there to help you, Hellboy, even if usually in
a less direct manner. Remember, Michael is the patron saint of all those who
protect frail humanity from that which harms.”

Becoming curious over Abe’s uncharacteristic silence, Hellboy turned toward
him and found that he was slumped down in his seat, fast asleep. Realizing that
he was now essentially alone with Malachy, he turned back to him, “That idiotic
demonic rat kept going on and on about my destiny. If I don’t really know who or
what I am now, how can I know what my destiny should be? Do you know?”

Malachy looked deep into Hellboy’s golden eyes. “Who you are now is easy to
see: you are a peculiar combination of your unique origins, how you were raised
by the man who adopted you, and your own freely-chosen actions. You do, indeed,
have a destiny, but what that destiny should be can only be determined by you
yourself.”

Sighing, Hellboy stood up and collapsed down into his seat, bowing his head.
“But what if I’m nothing more than a demon from Hell, with only one destiny and
no choice about it?”

“All sentient beings have a choice, Hellboy,” replied Malachy, coming to
stand next to Hellboy’s seat. “You are no different. When I look into your
heart, I see many things: envy, anger, fear, jealousy; but, over and above all
of these, I see love. There is no love in Hell. Love only comes from Heaven and
is something that must be freely given and freely accepted by those who choose
to do so.”

Yanking open the panel that allowed him to look outside, Hellboy stared,
unseeing, for a long while at the highway scenery going by. “Malachy, I don’t
really need much to make me happy,” he finally said, “A good movie, a nice cold
bottle of beer, a bowl of my favorite chili, a Baby Ruth bar, kissing Katie,
knowing people I care about are safe. But what I really want most is for Father
to be proud of me. What if that furball was right and I do something that really
messes things up?”

Malachy knelt by Hellboy, placing a hand on his knee, “Remember, your biggest
weakness is jealousy. Try to keep only love in your heart; for if you ever allow
jealousy to grow, things may not be so well.”

A loud mewing unexpectedly occurred at that moment. In Hellboy’s excitement
over rescuing Kate and subsequent conversation with Malachy, he totally forgot
the white kitten he had named ‘Lucky’; his new pet that was then ensconced in
one of the overhead animal cages in the front of the truck.

Hellboy had originally placed his cloak in the cage for Lucky to lie on, but
an agent had removed it when it was given to Hellboy to wear after the
successful termination of the operation. The kitten was now sitting
disconsolately on the bare metal bottom of the cage next to the pan of litter.

Getting up from his chair, Hellboy opened the cage and lifted Lucky down from
it. The minute Lucky was again held in Hellboy’s warm hands, he stopped crying
and started purring. Holding the cat in the stone palm of his huge right hand,
Hellboy retrieved the cloak and relined the cage with it.

He then dug around in the bag on the table that still contained the food
purchased the night before. There was no more cat food in the bag, but there was
another package of Hellboy’s favorite brand of mozzarella string cheese;
something guaranteed to be an extremely rare treat for a stray cat.

Malachy had sat back down at the table, watching with amusement Hellboy’s
almost maternal care of his new pet. “Is this kitten one of the associates you
keep talking about, Malachy?” Hellboy inquired, as he sat down in his chair with
Lucky in his lap and broke off pieces of the stringy, but delicious cheese to
feed to the now ecstatic white kitten.

Malachy shook his head. “Often when we need to check things out we manifest
as cats and mingle with the strays in a particular location. We first
encountered this kitten with an eye for shiny objects in early November when we
were tracking odd behavior among the city’s rat population. Last night we merely
encouraged him to give you the hair clasp he had found in the park earlier that
evening.”

“Was it you who put the idea in Abe’s head that we had to go looking for a
white cat?” Hellboy asked, as he hungrily ate a little of the string cheese
himself.

“No, that ‘prediction’ was totally due to his own formidable psychic powers.
It saved us from having to find a way to coax you out of the truck to find the
hair clasp. We were not initially planning on intervening any further than to
make sure the kitten left the clasp where you could find it; at least not until
your companion inadvertently astral-projected into the chamber where the women
were imprisoned and alerted the rat that you were closer than he assumed.”

“And that’s when you snuck yourself into my truck in your kitty-cat form.”
Hellboy grinned, as he continued feeding Lucky, taking occasional nibbles of the
cheese himself. It was not long before the entire package of mozzarella was
consumed.

Noticing that Abe and Kate were still fast asleep, Hellboy got up from his
seat when the kitten was finished eating. After retrieving the same plastic bowl
and jug of water used the night before, he gave Lucky some water to drink before
he again placed the kitten back into the metal cage. After climbing into the pan
of litter to perform necessary postprandial functions and scratching to bury the
results, Lucky curled up in the cloak that was again at the bottom of the cage
and went to sleep.

Poking his left forefinger through the front of the cage, Hellboy gently
stroked the drowsing kitten, which purred happily at this attention. He then
went back to his seat on the truck, falling asleep right after he sat down.

As he drifted into dreams, he heard a not-unfamiliar voice speak, “Farewell;
take good care of our little kleptomaniac, won’t you? Beware of leaving shiny
objects around. He does seem to like them.”

Hellboy, Abe, and Kate continued sleeping until the truck pulled into the
main aboveground garage at the Newark Bureau headquarters.

More to come…

Author’s afterword: Sorry this ended up posted later than I originally
wanted to. I sing a lot of concerts this time of year and just didn’t have time
to post anything on Christmas. Originally, I was going to make this longer and
have it be the last part of Chapter Five, but decided to post these completed
pages before New Year’s since the system is coming down on 12/30 (at least for
posting and editing). Since I have another concert to prepare for New Year’s
Eve, it will probably be after the first of the year before I finish up
Chapter Five: Abe Sapien: Sibling Rivalry.

Of all of the Hellboy fanfictions I’ve written, this chapter of
Hellboy’s Family will be the one I will miss the most when it is finished.
It was fun writing it, I hope it was fun reading it. Thanks to all who have done
so and I hope you all have a prosperous and happy New Year.